The candidates vying for three seats on April 2 are incumbents Brenda Warren and Kristina Shelton, and challengers Paul Boucher, Eric Vanden Heuvel, and John Jahnke.

Moderator and league president Julie Larneth asked the candidates how they would would have addressed a recent insurance benefits cost increase for all district staff and to propose a possible alternative.

The board on Monday began to address a $5 million budget shortfall by increasing employees deductibles and out-of-pocket medical expenses under its self-funded insurance plan. The change is expected to save about $1 million per year.

Vanden Heuvel said he went to several listening sessions with staff on the topic where "I heard some people say we balance the budgets on the backs of our teachers."

He disagrees with this statement because only $1 million was put on teachers and other staff.

"I think we were in a difficult spot," he said, adding he hopes the district can find other ways to reward teachers.

Warren said she views what the board did as a way to secure the school from having to raise the deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses in the future.

“By raising deductibles, that has been shown to give people pause before they go to a doctor. To make sure they need to see a doctor today as opposed to going to the ER,” Warren said.

Boucher said the district should be working to raise revenue rather than make cuts.

“Rather than focusing on cutting we should try to get more money in if we could recruit students from outside the district to come to the schools … it's like ($7,000) or $8,000 per student," Boucher said.

Shelton called the need to make changes to staff health care a "a very complicated issue."

She voted no at Monday's meeting after speaking with staff who "felt like they had nothing left to give."

“I didn’t feel comfortable passing that cost on to the teachers and staff without knowing the full scope,” Shelton said.

Jahnke said his issue with the decision hinges on the district having increased administrative level staff by 50 percent or $4 million since 2012.

"If the board and district were making more responsible decisions with their budget and putting more money into teachers throughout that time, then, when the district was faced with increased health care costs, they would be going to their teachers and support staff in a different position," he said.

The candidates were also asked where would they look to make administrative cuts to put more money into the classroom. Shelton spoke about teachers' concerns about increasing class sizes when they are being told the budget deficit is due to declining enrollment.

Shelton said teachers have asked her why, if enrollment is decreasing, are class sizes increasing.

"The perception is we are top heavy and when teachers feel like they are not being supported ... then we need to do a better job of bringing them into the conversation and solving this issue," Shelton said.

Jahnke said the board needs to look at whether there is value in those positions when compared to smaller class sizes.

"Are these just layers that teachers are answering to or are they bringing value to them?" he asked.

Vanden Heuvel said he does not know if the district is top heavy with administrators, but as a board member he would work to figure out what administrative positions are necessary.

"Once we can define that work, then we can design the organization to support it," he said.

Sometimes people being moved into a managerial role is a cost-savings move, Warren said. In some cases, the district is able to save money on overtime by putting an employee on salary.

"Our administrators work hard and they do a lot of work,” Warren said.

Fifty percent of recent administrator additions were in schools and included principals and assistant principals, she said.